Tunisia's trade deficit jumps to $5.3 bln in first eight months of 2022

Tunisia's balance of trade was in deficit by 16.9 billion dinars ($5.32 billion) in the first eight months of 2022, an increase of 61% from a year earlier, mainly because of high energy prices, the state Institute of Statistics (INS) said on Monday.

The trade deficit was 10.48 billion dinars in the same period of 2021, INS figures showed.

The energy balance deficit doubled to 6 billion dinars this year compared to 2.9 billion dinars last year, driven by the impact of the war in Ukraine.